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What's happening on the farm right now?
The River Arts District Farmers Market is MOVING to the Smoky Park Supper Club NEXT WEEK Wednesday, July 6th. Hours are the same, 3pm to 6pm. The Supper Club is about 1 mile down river from our current location at 350 Riverside Drive and offers shade, grass, lots of customer parking, and a site free of potholes, huge puddles and dust. We are hoping for a smooth transition and are super grateful to the owners of the Smokey Park Supper Club for inviting us to hold our market there. Here's a link to the article in the Citizens Times about the move. https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2022/06/28/river-arts-district-farmers-markets-new-location-what-know/7745512001/
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We had a good rain over last week end and it brought up our summer cover crop beautifully. (See picture above.) We get most of our soil fertility from our cover crops and have a fairly robust program. We seed a winter cover crop on all the fields in the fall that grows from September to March. During the growing season, we rest 1/3 of the farm and these fields get a long-term summer cover crop of iron and clay peas (brought through Amazon this year, as no one local had any and yes, the shipping for the 50lb bag was free with prime. Strange days!), sunflowers, millet and sorghum sudan grass. This will grow until mid-September when we'll sow the fields to the winter cover crop again. And, as the vegetable crops finish up in our production fields, we sow those beds to buckwheat. It grows super quickly, providing a good cover for the soil, smoothing weeds that come up, adding organic matter and providing a great nectar source for beneficial insects and pollinators.
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Summer fields are looking beautiful right now.
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There are a lot of tomatoes on those vines!
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What's available in the store and at market this week?
Juicy red tomatoes! We've been loving these sliced in tomato sandwiches, tossed with pasta, chopped in pico de gallo with our onions and cilantro. Also this week we have cherry and cocktail tomatoes. The blueberries are still abundant. We have summer squash and cucumbers. Cilantro and basil. Yellow onions and red potatoes. Sweet carrots. Lettuce mix and lots of gorgeous head lettuce, crisp romaine, silky red butter, tender green oak and colorful red leaf. The zinnias are bright and cheerful and the cosmos, while they look like they would wilt in a minute, actually make long lasting, elegant cut flowers. We have sunflowers and our mixed bouquets.
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Please note: Pick up locations for this coming Saturday are at the North Asheville Tailgate Market 8am until noon, and out here at the farm, 9m until dusk. Remember: You don't have to wait in line at market! Come to the check-out table and we will quickly grab your box for you.
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And for Wednesday pick ups: RAD is moving to the the Smoky Park Supper Club, 350 Riverside Drive. 3-6pm. Join us there and enjoy the shade, the accesible paved parking lots and beautiful views of the river.
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John's Recipe of the Week
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John Loyd is our dear friend, neighbor, CSA worker member and a gourmet Southern cook. His delightful cooking observations and delicious recipe offerings appear here each wee
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“So long as you have food in your mouth, you have solved all questions for the time being.” Franz Kafka
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Tomatoes don’t like cold, so keep them on your counter. Cold knocks out the flavor.
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We like to have a potato salad with vinaigrette as a change from more traditional ones. Choose any vinaigrette you like. French oil and vinegar dressing with Dijon is our favorite. Cook the potatoes as usual and dress the salad while they are hot. Add onions, green onions, eggs and any fresh herbs you prefer. Let the dressing settle in for 30 minutes or so and serve. This is good cold or rewarmed.
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Here is a fancy carrot recipe. From Martha Pearl Villas. Martha Pearl’s recipes appear in “My Mother’s Southern Kitchen” by James Villas. She likes to serve this dish with ham. We have it as a side dish with anything we might be making. Serves 6 to 8, so usually make a half recipe.
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2 pounds or carrots, peeled and cut into half inch rounds
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Chopper parsley for garnish or some cilantro is fun
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Steam or boil the carrots until they are tender, about 8 minutes, then drain.
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In a saucepan melt the butter, then add the sugar, cornstarch, salt, ginger, and pepper and stir well.
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Add the orange juice stirring it in and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens, about a minute
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Add the carrots and stir until well coated with the sauce.
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Transfer to a bowl and dress with the parsley
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Your farmers, Vanessa and Alex
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Love the flowers. Honor the vegetables. Let the weeds go!
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- Cheri Huber and Ashwini Narayanan
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